High-Performance, Transparent, and Stretchable Electrodes Using Graphene–Metal Nanowire Hybrid Structures

Abstract

Transparent electrodes that can remain electrically conductive and stable under large mechanical deformations are highly desirable for applications in flexible and wearable electronics. This paper describes a comprehensive study of the electrical, optical, and mechanical properties of hybrid nanostructures based on two-dimensional graphene and networks of one-dimensional metal nanowires, and their use as transparent and stretchable electrodes. Low sheet resistance (33 Ω/sq) with high transmittance (94% in visible range), robust stability against electric breakdown and oxidation, and superb flexibility (27% in bending strain) and stretchability (100% in tensile strain) are observed, and these multiple functionalities of the hybrid structures suggest a future promise for next generation electronics. The use of hybrid electrodes to fabricate oxide semiconductor transistors and single-pixel displays integrated on wearable soft contact lenses with in vivo tests are demonstrated.

Human‐Like Sensing and Reflexes of Graphene‐Based Films

“…Copyright 2010, American Chemical Society. c,d) Reproduced with permission 70. Copyright 2013, American Chemical Society.…”

“…Hence, beyond chemical doping mentioned above, hybrid structures, e.g., introducing CNTs68, 69 or metal nanostructures70, 71, 72, 73 also have been developed to solve this problem in recent years.…”

“…Lee and co‐workers spin‐coated a thin layer of Ag nanowires (AgNWs) network on the top of the graphene film 70. Figure 6c is the image of graphene–AgNWs hybrid film on a PET substrate, while the insect is a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image.…”

Nanomaterial-based stretchable and transparent electrodes

“…The hybridization of AgNWs with other nanomaterials, such as graphene and CNTs, further improves the electrical and mechanical properties of the resulting stretchable and transparent electrodes [3,[28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. For example, the introduction of graphene onto an AgNWbased percolation network (Figure 1(d)) provides additional conducting paths through the two-dimensional structure of graphene beyond the one-dimensional paths of AgNWs, resulting in improved conductivity compared to the AgNW-only electrode.…”

“…Also, the low moisture permeability of graphene leads to the enhanced longterm stability of the graphene-AgNW hybrid electrode compared to the AgNW-only counterpart [31]. Park et al demonstrated an AgNW-graphene hybrid transparent electrode, which showed excellent optical transmittance (94% in the visible range) and low sheet resistance (33 /sq) as well as 100% stretchability without significant resistance changes [28]. Figure 1(e) shows the implementation of a display pixel on a contact lens using this AgNW-graphene hybrid electrode.…”